1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a controlled current distribution device, more particularly a device of the kind including in a common casing a socket outlet receptacle enclosing terminals of the socket (generally female terminals), a switch connected to switch the socket outlet receptacle on and off, and means for mechanically locking a plug into the socket outlet receptacle.
The invention relates more particularly to a new arrangement of the above three subassemblies, which are simpler and more reliable than those currently available.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The standards governing some socket outlets, in particular socket outlets for high currents, require the socket outlet receptacle to be switched off when no plug is actually inserted into the receptacle and operation of the switch to switch the socket outlet receptacle on to be prevented when no plug is actually inserted into the receptacle.
Various locking principles using diverse mechanisms between the switch and the receptacle have previously been proposed, such that operation of the switch is conditional on the presence of a plug in the receptacle and mechanical locking of the plug in the receptacle when the receptacle is switched on. The prior art mechanisms employ cams, sliders or gears.
The invention proposes a new device in which the coupling between the means for locking the plug and the switch is provided by a cable.
To be more precise, the invention therefore provides a controlled current distribution device of the type comprising, in a common casing, a socket outlet receptacle and a switch that are electrically interconnected so that switching on the socket outlet receptacle is conditional on the position of the switch, wherein the receptacle includes a lateral groove oriented in the direction of insertion of a corresponding plug incorporating a lug adapted to engage in and slide in the groove, a locking mechanism between the switch and the groove and adapted to cooperate with the lug to make connecting or disconnecting the plug conditional on a position of the switch in which the socket outlet receptacle is switched off, the locking mechanism includes a locking member mobile along a transverse path relative to the groove and enabling it to cooperate with the lug to lock the plug in position and the locking member is attached to a cable installed and guided in the casing and connected to a mobile member of the switch.
The cable is installed in the casing in a loop. An advantageous embodiment of the device includes an internal support extending between the switch and the receptacle and the guide is partly formed within an imprint in the support. The internal support is fixed against the inside face of a wall of the casing so that the cable is confined within a space defined by the imprint and the inside face.
The locking member includes a tongue adapted to cooperate with a lug and carried by a slider installed in a rectilinear groove forming part of the guide.
The tongue and the slider are rigidly connected and the slider is mounted in the rectilinear groove so that it cannot pivot on itself. Consequently, if the tongue is moved into contact with one end of a lug on the plug, the plug is mechanically locked into the receptacle.
Consequently, when the tongue is at a position far away from the path of the lug on the plug, which path is materialized by the groove that is defined on the side of the receptacle, the plug can be connected or disconnected without difficulty. This position of the tongue corresponds to a position of the switch in which its contacts are open and the socket outlet receptacle is consequently switched off.
On the other hand, when the tongue is engaged in the extension of the lateral groove the plug connected to the socket outlet receptacle is mechanically locked to it and the receptacle is switched on.
According to an other important feature of the invention, a locking leaf spring is mounted in the vicinity of the locking member and includes a claw in line with the groove so as to be moved by the lug on the plug and a mobile abutment is shaped and positioned to hold the locking member in a position away from the path of the lug on the plug defined by the lateral groove, in which position the switch is open, and is retracted when the claw is moved by the lug on the plug. In this position, the switch is open and cannot be closed unless a plug is inserted into the socket outlet receptacle.
Connecting the plug causes the mobile abutment to be retracted when the claw is moved by the lug on the plug. Thus the switch cannot be operated, i.e. closed, until the mobile abutment has been retracted and operation of the switch is accompanied by movement of the tongue, which locks the plug into the socket outlet receptacle.
The invention will be better understood and other advantages of the invention will become more apparent in the light of the following description of a current distribution device according to the invention, which description is given by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings.